105 Comments

Yankmeister: I don’t think the last series of the regular season is meaningless. It certainly wasn’t meaningless to the Rays. And take any sport. I’ve played hockey and watched a lot of professional hockey. And the team that gets into the playoffs early and rests many of its players waiting for other teams to qualify often are beaten in the early round because the team they are facing have had to scratch and claw to get in right up to the end and get carried into the playoffs on a wave of momentum nd emotion where the other team who qualified early and rested is not ready mentally. Physically rested but not mentally and emotionally ready. And by the time they get ready they’re knocked out of the series. Two philosphies. Is one better than the other? If they couldn’t hit Verlander why could the Tigers hit CC? He’s supposed to be our ace. Certainly Tex was well rested. Certainly ARod was well rested. What have they done in this series? The Yankees couldn’t hit Fister either.

OF course the last series wasn’t meaningless to the Rays, but as far as the Yankees go it was. The Yankees are the 9th oldest team in the majors and full of injury prone players. I can just see this board full of complaints if the Yankees had started the post season with a couple of key players hurt in that Rays series or just looking tired. There’s just simply no proof that the Yankee offense was flat at the start of this series simply because they rested their regulars. This team could’ve looked flat either way. It’s up to the coaches and manager to keep these guys focused and sharp just as it is in any sport. If they don’t then they aren’t doing their jobs. It’s no surprise A-Rod has struggled in the post season, he usually disappears. The same can be said of Tex who has a career .203 BA in the playoffs. It’s a tradition with those guys, they aren’t struggling because they were rested. Verlander was more on his game than CC was, that’s why they hit him, it had nothing to do with rest, they also did hit Fister as he gave up 7 hits and 6 runs in less than 5 innings.

Rest is something every time wants and strives for after a long season, especially in baseball. In football teams strive for that off week to rest and in hockey they have more off days in their postseason than most sports. So there is nothing wrong with being rested.

Hey gang! The whole season rests on the shoulders of the one starter we’ve questioned all year, AJ Burnett. He had a fairly strong outing the last time he pitched. Is this the AJ we’ll get tonight and the one that blows up in the 4th or the 6th inning? We won’t have long to wait. Also we’ve got to get some hits and runs and support our starting pitching. We’ve only done that in one game in this series. We came into the series flat with the “rest our best players” strategy and now I think we’re paying for it. The Tigers came in tired but on a roll and it shows. Hope this doesn’t turn into a “told you so” party.

Like I said earlier in a previous post, resting this team of oldies but goodies was absolutely the right thing to do in a meaningless series. I would have really hated to see a player go down in that type of series. Also wouldn’t like to see this team lose because it was tired and overworked before the end of the season. It’s always better to err on the side of caution. If this team isn’t sharp then the problem lies elsewhere. Could be this team doesn’t look as sharp as much as it could due to the fact that of who they are hitting against such as Verlander.

Another good night for Posada but the zone was tight & we struggled to scratch those 4 runs out before Soriano coughed up that homer – definately a poor poor pitch to Young especially when you know he’s an aggressive hitter. But trouble is you can’t go 1-5 with RISP, i don’t care who’s on the mound, you’re playing in October you’re not there because you’re a muppet who doesn’t know what you’re doing! Still, got to hope we get the AJ which fools you into believing he’s an elite pitcher rather than the Triple-A pitcher he’s too often appeared as.

Also no surprise A-Rod is choking this post season, it’s more the norm than the exception for this guy. No surprise his body is breaking down after admitting to cheating, common story with thee other cheaters.

Dang, last scenario I wanted to see was the team’s season hinging on BUSTnett’s so-called arm. Hopefully he will be kept on a very short leash tonight. I was dead on about this guy considering he has never been a very good second half pitcher since joining the Yanks, we haven’t seen the “good” BUSTnett in a long, long, long time. I’ve seen people extrapolating his numbers over the course of the season predicting he would win 16 games. Yeah right, I hope they now see how dumb that is to do, period. I’m not liking this team’s chance at all tonight.

Keep Gardner in the #9 hole, he’s still a mediocre hitter who is coming off a very average second half of the season, there’s a reason why this guy hasn’t been the team’s leadoff hitter all season.

Haven’t seen it yet (will be watching it when i get in from work) but i think this sort of proves why i don’t trust Soriano, if he was using the time to audition for the closers job with the Yankees he’s failing miserably. Hopefully we get the good AJ tonight, because if not, we’re going home!

So now the entire season rests on the arm of AJ and his start. Anyone going to bet their house and retirement on his performance? More and more it’s beginning to look like wait until next year. Guess my powerball # is going to remain 27. Just hope that changes will be made with this squad when preparing for next season & they get some starting pitching!!!!

There was a time when you wanted Jeter at the plate in a clutch situation. Not any more. He strikes out way too much. Chance to be the hero in the 9th and blew it. AGain!Disappointing that the guys who should have come through didn’t. It’s down to AJ now tomorrow. Don’t like our chances.

robert G totally agree with you about ARod and his salary. At the start of the year a Yankee fan mentioned to me that he thought the Yankees should sign Fielder as a free agent after this year. I questioned the wisdom of that move. After the year Tex has had (despite the HRs) and the postseason up to now I’m not so sure of my position at the start of the year.

Moving on is admitting you made a mistake and going with other options. If you had a must win situation (which looks like tomorrow’s game) who would you start; Hughes, Bustnett, Colon, Joba or Nova? Ages have been brought up in this discussion, Nova is 24 and has proven time and time again he wants the ball and does NOT self-destruct in pressure situations. Can the same be said of the 25 and 26 year old? Crashman has made mistakes with this pitching staff. The Yankees NEED to start correcting those mistakes.

wow grandy just missed one there…this game aint over with valverde possibly pitching the 9th unless they put verlander back out there?
amazing how suddenly verlander is throwing half his pitches out of tbs box they have on the tv and they are being called strikes, pitch to cano was way out of the box and 2 to granderson…home plate ump is really inconsistent and is calling nearly everything verlander throws strikes.

I wish we could dump ARod and his salary for the next 5 years. This will continue to be a nightmare the older ARod gets and more injury prone. All that money tied up in one broken down player. We can’t even get Verlander out of the game to try to hit someone else. We’re going to have to be dealing with their closer in the 9th. I still fear the outcome of this game. We’ve been playing catch up all game.

You’re right itdibo. Why not Robertson? We have to win this game. Soriano is too much of a risk in this tight game. Bad decision. Girardi saving Robertson for the 8th but now Tigers are ahead in the 8th so all he can do is keep the score where it is and hope the Yankees can tack on another couple of runs.

The problem with CC not starting well you have to go to the bull pen early and then anything can happen like Delmon Young’s home run off Soriano. Just think the Yankees are getting something going and the Tigers jump out to the lead again. Where’s the Yankee’s home run power gone in this series? Detroit showing more power than the yankees.

I wouldn’t say Kennedy was pushed too fast, he was in the system for 3 years. Most likely he is nothing more than a NL pitcher. I won’t say that Kennedy is a great pitcher we gave up on based on one great season. That’s a mistake Crashman would make. Iwould wait and see how he does years down the road.

First time you have said that RobertG. BTW back to the game, has Russeel Martin become the hit by a pitch guy the past three weeks? IF memory serves me right he has been hit at least 5 times since the middle of Sept.

getting ready to throw a brick through the tv with this stinkin Jeter….Pitch hit nunez please, get him out of there, worst on the team with risp…takes a pitch right over the plate, a nice high hanging curve and he stands there….give your money to gardner, he is earning it…absolute bum, him and arod…

Smoltz says “we have exhausted 14 pitches here” referring to the number of pitches Verlander had to throw to get the 3rd out. “We” certainly doesn’t sound objective to me. He shouldn’t be covering these games. He has an obvious Tiger bias. Gardner comes through again. Too bad Jeter couldn’t have got a hit and got Gardner home for the go ahead. Now it’s crunch time.

Itdibo that’s all I ever hear about Hughes and Joba, they might, they might, they might. Far as I am concerned they haven’t. I could careless about their ages. The point is they have NOT been the pitchers they were hyped to be. The Yankees cannot depend on these guys anymore. Both have had bad years, one has been on the DL most of the year the other has a “tired” arm. How the hell can you have a tired arm and be in your early to mid 20’s? It’s time to move on to other pitchers in the system. Waiting on these two is like waiting on AJ to have a good year. Face it and move on.

Seek, I know the frustration , I’m frustrated too, but of the two I have to give Hughes more of a look, he is 36-23 lifetime….The thing I see with Hughes is his refusal to pitch inside..He just can’t do it and he must…

Absolutely right robert G. I posted yesterday that CC had to shut the Tigers down. That obviously did NOT happen. Now unless there is a great comeback this team puts its entire season in the hands of AJ. And everyone on this blog knows why I think about that.

I could careless about Damon O. I look at results and what have been the results of the Yankees young pitching since 2006, you have Robertson who has pitched well this year and Nova. That is it. Again I say you win with Pitching, period.

At this point robert G can the three B’s do any worse? Hughes is out more than he is in. Chamberlain has been a joke since year one. Why the hell even bother with them. Both of them have had chance afer chance after chance after chance. They are the kid brothers of AJ. Either you do it or you don’t and neither of them produce. This if the 4-5 year for both of them and what do you have? Sorry these two need to leave and the Yankees need to move on. You win with Pitching.

I have to disagree with you when it comes to Hughes. He did manage to win 18 games last season and was a huge part of the Yankee bullpen when they won the WS. I just can’t explain why he struggled badly this year, most likely due to the workload from the previous year. That’s more than Johanne Santana has done for the Mets who has done nothing for them and as a result the Mets have gone nowheres. So Hughes has proven he can do it. As for Chamberlain, the blame goes squarely on the head of this organization and their use of Chamberlain and their moronic Joba rules. Joba’s problem is that they never gave him a defined role or gave him any consistency whatsoever by moving him back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen. Absolutely no way to develop a pitcher.

As for Openheimer, I would give him a grade of C when it comes to drafting and managing the system. On Paper some of the prospects look good like Banuelos, Betances, and Brackman, but Betances and Brackman have been injury prone pitchers most of their careers so far and have major control issues, Brackman had another horrible season he could be a bust, chances are we won’t see them until late 2012 depending on how they do. Christian Garcia was a bust as well as Chamberlain so far. Guys like Colin Curtis who was taken with a 4th Rd pick, Mitch Hilligoss a 6th Rd pick and a lot of other Yankee hitters look like they are nothing more than benchplayers. However, he did pick Robertson who had a great season and Mark Melancon who looked good for Houston and could have been the closer of the future for the Yankees had they not traded him for nothing. Most of the so called good looking pitching prospects are still years away from fully developing, if they develop at all.

This team needs to put more effort into developing pitching prospects than it has, the only good homegrown starting pitcher that has come through within the past 20 years is Pettitte. Nova could possibly break that streak.

The way this game is going I can’t watch it. You know where it’s going. You can feel it. We’re losing the game in every aspect. They are just better than we are. I don’t care if we won the most games in the regular season. When it comes down to it these other teams only one or two games less, so big deal. Lets face it.

Wonder what the odds in Vegas are on Arod getting a hit in this series? I’m sure the Yankees will throw out the excuse that he was hurt. If he is hurt then put him on the bench and play Chavez. If it’s not one thing it’s another thing with this soap opera of a third baseman.

I agree seeknay. Ian Kennedy won 21 games this year. Amazing. And he couldn’t pitch for us and we traded him. We kept Hughes and Joba and what have they done lately? The only pitcher the system has really developed is Nova. The three Bs aren’t ready yet. They showed that. Will they be ready for next year? Who knows. The Rays do a good job at developing their talent at the minor league level. Historically we haven’t and usually have had to trade for players or pick up free agents. Colon and Garcia did well all season, better than expected, but at their age they’re tired at the end of the season and can’t really contribute to the post season. And when CC can’t get it done either we’re in deep do-do. Man are these commentators ever biased toward the Tigers. It’s sickening.

RobertG you have been saying that about those two for three years now, when the HELL do they develop? One is ALWAYS hurt the other is a waste of time and $$$$. Face neither of two will ever develop, they were overhyped, overpaid and it is time to unload them.

One is 25yrs old and one is 26 years old…Hughes won 18 games just last year and joba could still be a good reliever….but the Yanks are loaded with good young pitching talent in AAA, some are actually saying too much…the top 2 being betances and banuelos…we actually saw noesi and nova show they are good major leaguers and we may see noesi in the starting rotation next year.
Developing real good major league starters is a problem for most teams, its not easy, a few make it and most are busts..

Has everyone noticed that when Leyland got the leadoff batter on he bunted the guy to second? Jeter gets on and does Girardi do the same. It’s called small ball and Joe lost it somewhere between Florida and New York. In the playoffs that works.

They sure did RobertG but they also handed the Yankees the likes of Hughes and Joba. Both of which were babied and neither of which has done anything OR has appeared in the playoffs the past two years. As you know I have grown VERY tired of these two youngsters. They dumped Kennedy and kept Hughes, NOT a smart move. One out of three is NOT good odds unless you are a hitter. Winning one out of three games is NOT good, unless your Bustnett. robert G the Tigers faced the same problem with the rainout. The Yankees have gotten by with VERY little starting pitching. When you rely on two older veterans like Garcia & Colon then by the end of the year well it is what it is. Everyone on this blog knows that your win with good, consistent starting pitching. GET some!!

Anyone think Girardi’s strategy of resting his regulars in the last series was a good idea and losing the last three games of the season? Yankees are being outpitched, outplayed, outhit, and ouhustled. Up to this point they are not as good a team as the Tigers. They are not as hungry as the Tigers. They’re lacking desperation. If they lose this game Girardi can’t go with the same lineup. He’s been status quo for the first three games and it isn’t working except for the first game. Detroit’s ace certainly doesn’t seem to have been affected by the 2 1/2 days rest like CC.

And just think. We get AJ next! Maybe after CC tonight he couldn’t do much worse. I’m tired of listening to the biased comments of these guys on TV doing the commentary. Who picked them anyway? Were they picked for their objectivity? Was that even checked out?

Our only hope in this series was two appearances by CC and 2 wins. Hasn’t happened. Ain’t goin to happen. The way this game is going we’re screwed royally. Better start working on next season. I don’t really want to watch this game tonight. It’s going downhill in a hurry.

The first rain out has screwed up Girardi’s plan for starting pitching. CC was supposed to pitch the 1st game and the 4th game on 3 days rest. Now it’s all screwed up and CC is not pitching strongly tonightbecause of the change in his days between starts and his false warm up for the 1st game. The advantage has gone to the Tigers’ favor. When you split the first 2 games at home then there is no real plus in having home field advantage. Tigers win two at home and it’s all over.

Posada got a single. But other times at the plate he looks like a little leaguer. He lets two fast balls go across the plate and doesn’t swing and then a change up and he still doesn’t swing. Three strikes and he doesn’t even swing his bat. That’s awful. |Girardi going with the old tried and true lineup and has left out Montero who has been hitting well for them and Chavez who can hit if he’s playing. I don’t think Chavez could do any worse than ARod. I’m sorry. Management doesn’t owe ARod anything. If he’s still injured then don’t play hi.

Itdibo I would gladly trade the three amigos for the #3-5 the Tigers have. Those three would be cheaper and more consistent. Our offense BETTER get Better or it’s the offseason. Why this franchise cannot develop or get better starting pitching is beyond me.

Seek…I’d take the yankees 3 of Garcia 3.62 over Porcello and his incosistent 4.75 and i would take colon 4.00 over scherzer and his 4.43 and i would take burnett (5.15) over crappy brad penny and his 5.30…so if you want to play fantasy baseball let me know and you can draft those 3 crappy detroit pitchers…

robertG if they don’t advance it boils down to STARTING PITCHING. This team has masked a problem it has had all year. They have one GREAT starter who is overused, a youngster who in my opinion has pitched VERY well (which beckons the question why he was sent down to the minors), a so so starter in Garcia and then the three amigos.

If the Yankees don’t advance to the second round a lot of the blame can be placed on the middle of the Yankee lineup. Guys like Tex and ARod have done nothing at the plate yet. Being paid millions of dollars and doing nothing. I hope they get embarrassed when they pick up their pay check. I doubt it!

Bob…agreed…. thats not a strike and hasn’t been a strike the whole game, it easily went around the plate…ump needs to be consistent…if its a fastball, I could go with that call…not a big bender thats way outside like that…

Readily obvious that CC is again NOT on his game. Hasn’t been for the last month. Can we spell OVERUSED. Sabathia has pitched WAY too many innings this year because the likes of Hughes, Colon,Bustnett & Garcia CANNOT get through six innings and Girardi has OVERUSED his bullpen. Sabathia has pitched way too many innings and thrown way too many pitches this year. This is what happens when you have one GREAT starter and a bunch of underused starters.

CC can’t get the call on a lot of pitches that other nights with other umps he would get. Really bad calls. No wonder there are so many walks, however, CC needs to know what is being called a strike and adjust.

I’ll tell you that Smoltz and these commentators have a real Tiger bias. CC is not really on his game tonight. This could be a tough night because Verlander is not going to give up many runs. Jeter hits into DP again.

Good evening all you Yankee bloggers. This game is critical for the Yankees especially. They need to win this one. CC needs a strong performance and the bats need to wake up, particularly the middle of the lineup. If they don’t get it going soon they’ll be getting more rest than they need sitting at home and we’ll have nothing to blog about or hope for. A big game for the Yankee team and the fans. Whether they get to the world series may well depend on the outcome of this game tonight.

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